24 OCT
After four days of R&R, it was finally time to get back into training mode. That meant it was our turn to head out to the Udari Range. If Camp Virginia has been my desert oasis, then the Udari Range is surely Hell on Earth.
Remember the sand dunes C3PO and R2D2 landed on in the beginning of the first Star Wars movie? Well, put an isolated military shooting range in the middle of those blowing dunes and you have the Udari Range. Since returning to Camp Virginia, I’ve taken three showers and still haven’t gotten all the sand off me.
We arrived at one of the best times of the year; the temperature was just shy of 100 degrees. I can only imagine what it’s like in the middle of June or July with the summer heat and the sand storms. Here, we spent two and a half days out on the range practicing close quarters marksmanship (shooting a bad guy within 25 meters) and convoy training.
The convoy training was the best money could buy. On the range is a several mile long course that winds through several plywood villages and towns. The military actually hires locals to be role players and scatters them along the course; a mix of innocent bystanders, suspicious characters and downright terrorists. Also along the course are IEDs exactly like the ones being planted in Iraq and Afghanistan, suicide bombers, small arms fire, protestors and mock police. After assigning people to various convoy positions, our 11 HUMVEEs headed down the road. Needless to say we hit just about every IED and mishandled just about every scenario. But that’s why we were here, to learn. Again, this was some of the most educational, eye-opening training I’ve ever received.
And while the training was great, the living conditions were not! We all slept together in one big tent in sleeping bags on the hard floor. There wasn’t enough room in the tent for our gear so our bags had to stay outside… with the scorpions and the snakes. No chow hall, just MREs… which we were required to eat outside… in the blowing sand. And no shower facilities or indoor bathrooms; just port-a-potties. But this was a bonding experience and we all made the best of the situation.
After more than a month together, tomorrow, my shipmates and I will officially part ways. My group heading to Afghanistan leaves on the first flight. The team heading to Iraq leaves shortly after us. Sadly, this means my good friend, my battle buddy James Stockman and I will be going in separate directions. James and I have been side by side since day one of training. I’ll miss eating, hanging out and bitching about the military with James. But it’s a small Navy and I’m sure we’ll cross paths again. Good luck James!
Okay Afghanistan, here I come.
After four days of R&R, it was finally time to get back into training mode. That meant it was our turn to head out to the Udari Range. If Camp Virginia has been my desert oasis, then the Udari Range is surely Hell on Earth.
Remember the sand dunes C3PO and R2D2 landed on in the beginning of the first Star Wars movie? Well, put an isolated military shooting range in the middle of those blowing dunes and you have the Udari Range. Since returning to Camp Virginia, I’ve taken three showers and still haven’t gotten all the sand off me.
We arrived at one of the best times of the year; the temperature was just shy of 100 degrees. I can only imagine what it’s like in the middle of June or July with the summer heat and the sand storms. Here, we spent two and a half days out on the range practicing close quarters marksmanship (shooting a bad guy within 25 meters) and convoy training.
The convoy training was the best money could buy. On the range is a several mile long course that winds through several plywood villages and towns. The military actually hires locals to be role players and scatters them along the course; a mix of innocent bystanders, suspicious characters and downright terrorists. Also along the course are IEDs exactly like the ones being planted in Iraq and Afghanistan, suicide bombers, small arms fire, protestors and mock police. After assigning people to various convoy positions, our 11 HUMVEEs headed down the road. Needless to say we hit just about every IED and mishandled just about every scenario. But that’s why we were here, to learn. Again, this was some of the most educational, eye-opening training I’ve ever received.
And while the training was great, the living conditions were not! We all slept together in one big tent in sleeping bags on the hard floor. There wasn’t enough room in the tent for our gear so our bags had to stay outside… with the scorpions and the snakes. No chow hall, just MREs… which we were required to eat outside… in the blowing sand. And no shower facilities or indoor bathrooms; just port-a-potties. But this was a bonding experience and we all made the best of the situation.
After more than a month together, tomorrow, my shipmates and I will officially part ways. My group heading to Afghanistan leaves on the first flight. The team heading to Iraq leaves shortly after us. Sadly, this means my good friend, my battle buddy James Stockman and I will be going in separate directions. James and I have been side by side since day one of training. I’ll miss eating, hanging out and bitching about the military with James. But it’s a small Navy and I’m sure we’ll cross paths again. Good luck James!
Okay Afghanistan, here I come.
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